1981 DL 1800 wiring help

[OldieSubie]

Hey guys and gals, 

Im a new time member with a new-to-me 1981 DL 1800 Station Wagon 4WD. And I am having issues getting my wipers, radio, A/C, and radiator fans to work. A previous owner Jerry rigged a wire to bypass the temp sensor on the radiator and also Jerry rigged a relay where the three Fused wires go. My question is: does anyone have pictures of a stock fused wire area in the engine bay? I looked on the digital service manual that was provided on this forum...but a ton of electrical pages are missing/corrupt. I just need a reference to what is stock and possibly fix these issues. Also, I have a fuse that keeps blowing....from the wires (blue and blue/red?) they look like the A/C fuse. Any help would be super appreciated! I will attach pictures later when I get better lighting.

[6 Star]

Photos of what you have going on with the wiring would be very helpful.

Don't have any photos on-hand of my own to show at the moment...

Do you have a Haynes Manual? Would recommend volume 681 for 1980-1988 Subaru 1600 & 1800

[OldieSubie]

Hey 6 Star,

I'll post the pictures very shortly. Also, I was referencing the Service Manual that was provided in this link: 

http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/--Old%20Models--/

[OldieSubie]

I apologize, the day got away from me. I'll have the pictures first thing tomorrow morning.

[OldieSubie]

The first image is the bypass for the temp sensor on the radiator. The wires go all the way to the dash and terminate at a toggle switch. The other pictures are of the wiring job someone did, I have no idea where these wires went originally. And the screen shot is of the fusible wires....I don't have that whole assembly and I'm missing a third wire( which I believe is fuse holder next to the relay on the third picture)

Edited July 26, 2021 by OldieSubie
photos

[OldieSubie]

[OldieSubie]

[el_freddo]

The first pic: yellow wire connects to the thermo switch down lower, also with a yellow wire by the looks of things.

The battery pics seem to be a dangerous non-fused bypass of the fusible links for the main power. Those two wires (both grey from battery with blue and yellow connectors to the factory wiring) should go to a brown box with two or three fusible links (two for the EA81 DL wagon and brumby/brat from memory). These are designed to burn out before something causes an electrical fire in the wiring loom. Worth replacing back to factory or adapting newer style fuses of the correct rating instead.

Those issues seem quite minor once you have your head around them and how you’ll go about fixing them.

The thermo fan trigger switch should kick in once the engine temp shows a little over half on the gauge. The toggle switch will just go to earth. You could keep both systems in place so you have an override if you feel the need when sitting in traffic  

Cheers 

Bennie

[OldieSubie]

Hey el_freddo,

Thanks for the reply! Do you have a picture of what the factory setup should be? I'm half tempted to redo the whole positive power cable up the fusible wires. I'll have to take off the electrical tape and see if there was a third wire there before. Also, the diagram in the service manual doesn't show the white/gray 7-pin connector...only the blue 7-pin connector is present. Is it because the service manual is for an 83? None of the fans go on even if I have the fan switch grounded. I suspect the fuse holder with the blue wires is causing everything to not work, which makes me believe that it was a fusible wire at one point( when I stuck a 20amp fuse in, the AC blower fan turned on until the fuse blew).

[el_freddo]

The blue/grey plug, are you talking about the circular plug for the engine wiring loom? That looks intact and fine to me.

That black relay taped to the circular plug is not factory. You’ll have to trace those wires to find out where they go. It could be a relay for the fan(s) or it could be for some driving lights.

As for the fusible link box, I can’t find an image with it in there and definitely can’t find one of the wiring setup in it either. This is the best I can come up with to show the brown box for the fusible links:

 

You can see it tucked in behind the battery and hemmed in from the side with the coil.

There will be quite a lot of wire tracing (label everything if it helps you) in your future at this point in time.

Cheers 

Bennie

[OldieSubie]

The blue 7 pin connector is good. The gray 7 pin connector that the new relay is attached to, had all of its wires cut and four of them are crimped together and feed into one wire leading to the relay. One wire (black/yellow) isn't attached to anything. I'll get a closer picture of it. I know the fuel pump works off it because if I wiggle the wires, the pump will lose power. I just don't see anywhere that these wires would've terminated. And thank you for showing me the picture!

[OldieSubie]

The blue 7 pin connector is good. The gray 7 pin connector that the new relay is attached to, had all of its wires cut and four of them are crimped together and feed into one wire leading to the relay. One wire (black/yellow) isn't attached to anything. I'll get a closer picture of it. I know the fuel pump works off it because if I wiggle the wires, the pump will lose power. I just don't see anywhere that these wires would've terminated. And thank you for showing me the picture!

[OldieSubie]

So on a whim, I pulled the fuse holder and placed a jumper wire between the two ends....and everything started working! Radio, AC fan went on when I turned the blower on, the blower turned on! Front wipers worked! And the washer sprayers too! Only the rear wiper wasn't turning, I'll have to investigate it. Also, from what I saw I had two fusible links

[OldieSubie]

My next step is figuring out on how to keep the fuse from blowing and to revert the wires to stock setup. Also, I need to test out the function of the radiator temp sensor.

[el_freddo]

You need to try and meet up with someone who has a Subi of the same era without the butchered wiring to cross reference.

That tube fuse holder with the blue wire is a factory unit.   

Bugger it, I just ducked outside and grabbed these pics from my Brumby: 

 

Looking at your pics, it seems that someone has added that second circular plug. As per my pics mine is one side white and the other side blue - I had an inkling this was the case but didn’t want to give you a bum steer.

I also wonder what those plugs further up the line are for - the pink one caught my attention as I don’t have any of them there, just neatly wrapped wiring. It’s either a LHD vs RHD difference OR someone may have attempted to splice two loom sections into one for some unknown reason.

You might have to pull all the wires from that relay, record their colours and what they do - that will require some investigative work - but it would give us the best way to work out how everything is laid out in a factory wired vehicle by comparing what I and others have with their EA81’s.

That’ll give you something to work on for now though!

Cheers 

Bennie

[6 Star]

Bennie has been giving solid advise, as always.

I have a '82 GL Brat that I could take some photos of the wiring... it is LHD.

Half of my 80's Subies have a toggle switch for the radiator cooling fan. The sensor in the radiator ends up going bad or getting corroded. Instead of paying $50 some dollars for the sensor through Subaru, it is easier to wire a toggle somewhere within reach of the driver seat, and to monitor the engine temp during the hot months. In the winter, the cooling fan is rarely needed

[OldieSubie]

Hey Bennie,

Thanks for the pictures as a reference. What size fuse is in that glass fuse holder? I found mine had a 20Amp in it. Also, when I turn on the bypass switch, it will blow the glass fuse. So I'm trying to figure that one out as well: where is the short.

[OldieSubie]

6 Star,

I will need to remedy the short and hopefully I can utilize the switch again.

[el_freddo]

@OldieSubie - 20amp fuse is stock it seems.

I really think you’ll have to undo all this wiring and work out what does what with a fused wire from the battery positive terminal. Note down what is what then we should be able to move forward with how that’s wired into the factory setup.

I’m not sure how else to do this. I’d find your current way very frustrating!

Cheers 

Bennie

[6 Star]

It is tedious work, but will be very rewarding when you find the culprit. Let me know if you want pictures from my '82 GL

[OldieSubie]

6 Star,

I would love pictures of your 82 GL! So I placed a 20 Amp fuse into the holder: it didn't blow! Now I realized this morning that I cannot run anything with the headlights on (high beams: everything works, day time running lights: everything works) just normal headlights will turn the radio, wipers, blower fan, washer spray pump, and radiator AC fan off. On the other hand...everything stays on even when the car is off.

[moosens]

If I can easily do it I’ll post up some pics of the factory wiring diagram. Things have been awful funny with my attempting to get pics stored and posted lately. 

[6 Star]

Here are some wiring photos in the engine compartment of the '82 Rat Brat.
My apologies for the Mud everywhere, I did not get the enjoyment of putting it there, she came to me that way.
In fact... I have never washed this Brat in my nearly 5 years of ownership.
Could never bring myself to remove the patina that had accumulated over 8-10 years of Sitting in the South Puget Sound Woods before my ownership.
You seem to be focusing on the RH side, so that is where I took photos.
Only difference in our vehicles will be the addition of the Ignitor on top of my Coil and the 3rd Eye Wiring Loom addition.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves from here on, it is also not "factory", but I did not have to mess with the wiring after buying this Brat from the PO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more photos of this Beast Beater Brat, check out this post:

 

[OldieSubie]

6 Star,

Thank you for the photos! It looks much more stock than mine haha! And the mud is a good look on there! This will be a great reference to see what's different about my set up.

[OldieSubie]

Moosens,

I'd really appreciate if you could post some diagrams! I'm about to bite the bullet and but a service manual from: https://www.faxonautoliterature.com/1981-Subaru-Repair-Shop-Manual-Original

The PDF that I downloaded has a lot of missing pages in the electrical section, there isn't too much I could do. Plus, it's for an '83...so the wiring is a bit different.